Korean Series all tied up as Landers and Heroes head to Seoul

Baseball

Published: 03 Nov. 2022, 09:24 Updated: 03 Nov. 2022, 15:54

Korean Series all tied up as Landers and Heroes head to Seoul

Choi Ji-hoon of the SSG Landers hits a two-run home run over the right field fence in Game 2 of the 2022 Korean Series between the SSG Landers and Kiwoom Heroes at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

The SSG Landers and Kiwoom Heroes are tied at a game apiece after the first Incheon leg of the 2022 Korean Series, leaving it all to play for as both teams head to Seoul to resume play on Friday.

The Landers took a big 6-1 win to tie the series on Wednesday at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, putting Tuesday’s extra-innings loss behind them with impressive outings both on the mound and at the plate.

The Incheon club got off to a fast start, driving in three runs at the bottom of the first after Heroes starter Tyler Eppler loaded the bases with no outs.

Eppler walked the first run in, before back-to-back groundouts allowed runners from third to break for home.

The Heroes got one back in the third inning when a no-out fielder’s choice with the bases loaded saw the Landers opt for the double play while the runner from third headed home. That proved to be a wise choice, with the Seoul club unable to score again for the rest of the game.

The Landers continued to pile on. Choi Ji-hoon smashed a two-run long fly over the right field wall to take the score to 5-1 in the fifth inning, with Han Yoo-seom adding No. 6 with a solo homer in the seventh.

While the bats were kept busy at the plate, Landers starter Wilmer Font delivered on the mound, pitching seven complete innings with just the one run scored.

Wednesday’s win followed a nail-biter of an opening game on Tuesday, when the Heroes edged out the Landers 7-6 in extra innings.

That first game had everything you could possibly want from the opening game of a championship series: Lots of runs, loud contact, unlikely heroes, a lead changing hands, extra innings action and, arguably, the underdog emerging victorious.

The Landers took the lead early again in that game, scoring a run at the bottom of the second and extending that lead to 2-0 with a Choi Jeong homer at the bottom of the third.

Jeon Byeong-woo rounds the bases after hitting a crucial RBI at the top of the 10th inning to break the deadlock and lead the Kiwoom Heroes to a 7-6 win over the SSG Landers in Game 1 of the 2022 Korean Series at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The Heroes then pulled starter An Woo-jin due to a blister on his finger, putting them in a perilous spot with two-thirds of the game still to play.

But the bullpen held firm, and it was the Heroes who got on the board next, tying things up with two runs at the top of the fifth.

The Landers immediately pulled ahead again at the bottom of the fifth despite the Heroes bringing on Eric Jokisch to pitch. Jeong was again responsible for the run, lacing a double for an RBI.

The Heroes flipped the score at the top of the sixth, scoring two runs to take a 4-3 lead. The Landers tied things up again at the bottom of the inning, and then pulled ahead again at the bottom of the eighth with a sac fly.

The Heroes turned things around again at the top of the ninth, with a two-run homer from Jeon Byeong-woo putting the visitors up 6-5, only for the Landers to bat in a homer of their own off Kim Kang-min at the bottom of the inning.

With the score tied at 6-6, the game stretched to an extra inning. Jeon was the star again, hitting an RBI single to give the Heroes a 7-6 lead and, ultimately, win the game.

But despite Tuesday’s excitement, the Heroes face a tough series against the Landers.

The Landers, the first team in KBO history to take a wire-to-wire pennant win, walked away from the regular season with a huge edge over the Heroes, beating them in 11 of their 16 games and losing five times.

"I feel like the longer the series goes, the harder it will be for us to win," Kiwoom manager Hong Won-ki was quoted as saying on Wednesday by Yonhap. "But going 1-1 in the first two games here is the best we could've hoped for."

The Korean Series will resume on Friday at the Heroes home stadium, Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]